Oberdan

Origin

Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Also known as

Oberdan Pinto Magalhães

Genres

funk, samba-funk, soul, jazz fusion, samba jazz

Instruments

saxophone, multi-instrumentalist

Biography

Oberdan Pinto Magalhães was born in Rio de Janeiro and built a remarkable career as a saxophonist, arranger, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, standing out in the funk, samba-funk, soul, jazz fusion, and samba jazz genres. Nephew of the renowned samba composer Silas de Oliveira and father of William Magalhães, Oberdan began his career in the 1960s playing in ballroom bands and television shows, in addition to collaborating with important names in Brazilian music such as Tim Maia, Raul Seixas, and Caetano Veloso.

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, he joined several instrumental groups that were fundamental to his artistic development, including stints with the group Abolição, alongside Dom Salvador, and work with Osmar Milito and Raul de Souza. In 1975, he consolidated his talent as an arranger by scoring the arrangement for the song "Ébano," performed by Luiz Melodia at the Abertura Festival.

His greatest recognition came in 1977, when he founded the iconic Banda Black Rio, a project that revolutionized Brazilian instrumental music by blending American funk with Afro-Brazilian rhythms. At the helm of the band, he recorded fundamental albums and achieved national and international recognition until he tragically died in a car accident in Rio de Janeiro in January 1984.